Gwangju International Community Day & Pungam Lake

Hi everyone!

Here's all the latest for this weekend so far.

I went out for lunch with the pastor from the UBF church nearby, and he's actually legit and pretty cool. I'm looking forward to going to chuch tomorrow, but I have to go twice... he wanted me to be introduced at the Korean service (10:30am) and come to the English service at 5:00pm. 

This is me in the pastor's van when I wasn't sure if it was a cult yet...

This is some of the artwork that my students produce. I'm sure an art therapist could tell me a lot about what my kids are going through these days. 

Speaking of kids and going through things, this past Thursday was an incredibly significant day for all 4th year high school students in the country. It was the day they all took the university entrance examinations. In other words, they had an entire day's worth of testing that will determine their future based on their results. When they release the scores next month, the suicide rate will inevitably spike.

I think I see Spongebob in there...

This is the main lawn of my university.
The leaves are beautiful right now.

On the way to the festival. I got a haircut recently,
which was an experience in itself. I had been really apprehensive about getting it done here because I didn't want a bowl cut or some other crazy thing going on with my hair due to the language barrier. I had asked a few Korean people I know and they pointed me in the direction of some good salons, so I finally was brave enough and picked one. I walked in to a place that had no customers in it and asked/acted out to the first person I saw if they could cut my hair. She told me to wait a minute while she finished reading the newspaper (?) and in the meantime I had an interesting conversation with a Korean lady whose boyfriend is African, and she wanted to know if Canadians would be disapproving of their child, should they have one. I told her it would be a beautiful baby, and then we talked about Koreans being disapproving of black people in general. Then, the salonstress (is that the right word lol?) cut my hair while 3 (THREE!) attendants stood around me and wiped my face constantly with sponges, lest any hair remain on my skin. They asked if I wanted my head shampooed, but I normally don't get it done because it costs like, $5 extra in Canada (but judging by their reaction to my refusal, I wonder if it's included in the price of the cut here). The total came to $9 which is perfectly fine with me. Can't wait to have it done again in another 3 months :)

The 2nd last thing I want to write about is a festival that happened today. It was the Gwangju International Community Day, put on by the Gwangju International Centre. It's basically an organization that exists to help all non-Koreans settle into life here in Gwangju and the area. They had organized a bit of a festival outside the world cup stadium, so I went to check it out. They had a bunch of tents from different nationalities selling their local cuisine (naturally, the American tent had the longest line up... of Korean people!). I totally had a real American hot dog, and it was deeeeeeeeeeeeelicious!!

Anyway, I did some shopping at the nearby Uniqlo store because they're having some sort of anniversary sale, and then I went to check out a park I saw on the way to the stadium. 

This is the highlight of my day! It reminds me a lot of Mill Lake in Abbotsford, simply because it's a nice, calm, big lake with some bridges and a path around the outside. 

I found out later this place is called Pungam lake.

This is a rare gem in Korea, believe me. Nice parks are a blessing.

They even have nice bridges.

All of a sudden, I came upon a beautiful rose garden!!
With real roses, in real bloom! (isn't it a little late for roses?)

Yes, they smelled wonderful.

Imagine what this would look like in summer?

There were flowers everywhere. My dad would love this place.
They even have the machinery for a light-up display fountain,
but I didn't see a schedule posted.

You could buy big bags of toasted wheat and feed the incredibly
noisy ducks and geese nearby. A welcome change from the
plastic bags I saw people try and "feed" them.....

They had put up speakers that were playing some kind of noisy
jazz music and people were walking around with radios attached
to their belts, blaring Korean talk radio :( At least the other side of
the lake was quiet :)

A nice reflecting pond with loads of Koi in it.

That was my beautiful day at the park. I want to go again, maybe bring a book or something to eat or drink.

Quick note: Koreans must get cold easily, perhaps because they're so thin. I see people wearing big jackets, gloves, scarves, and face/neck warmers and insulated pants all the time. I, however, am still boiling all the time.... I never wear my jacket until the sun goes down and I still sweat a lot, partly due to the size of this massive, spread out campus. People keep asking me if I'm freezing..... no, I'm overheating :S

The last thing I want to write about is stuff that I'm really glad I have in Korea and stuff I wish I had more of in Korea.

I'm really glad that I have:

- My utility knife. I don't own a pair of scissors, and this thing has come in handy multiple times. I keep it in my backpack every day. (On an additional note, my lighter has come in handy several times already as well)

- My laptop. It's my entertainment centre, productivity centre, and connection to the outside world. So glad I have it.

- Some books. I bought some at What the Book in Seoul, and it's really been a blessing. It helps me from forgetting the English language yet still allowing my mind to grow.

- My iPhone. It's been incredibly helpful to me in terms of communication and MAPS.

- My camera. Couldn't share things with you guys without it!

- Cereal. Godsend.

- Tea. Another godsend.

- My own sheet set. You need comfort and familiarity here.

I wish I had more of:

- Cheez-its. Some people say they no longer sell them in Korea, but my local Homeplus stocks them (120g boxes for FOUR DOLLARS EACH!!). They're incredibly expensive....

- Books. I'll get some more next weekend.

That's it for today! Have a good weekend everybody!